Playing The Alphas

Chapter 63: The Escape

After Samantha left the room, Vera licked some of the blood from a syringe--thebone she kept for herself. "Delicious!" She muttered. "This blood supply will allow me be old and young as I wish. Who knows, my beauty, youh and charm may even be enough to seduce the princes."

Vera then took some old clothes and proceeded to go give the syringes filled with blood to who needed them. "Ugh!" She slurred. I hate having to have this old woman disguise. Why can’t I just be like a normal person?"

The palace gates loomed ahead, iron and stone, towering high enough to block out the moon. Vera walked slowly, her back bent, her cane tapping against the cobblestones.

Each step was deliberate. Each breath was measured. After all, she was an old woman. Frail, harmless and innocent. She had to look the part so no one would look twice at her.

The guards at the gate were young. They were stupid he-wolves anyway. So they wouldn’t suspect anything. Their hands rested on the hilts of their swords as they watched her approach with bored eyes. frёeωebɳovel.com

"Evening, ma’am," one of them said. "Late for a walk, aren’t you?"

Vera smiled. It was a toothless smile. A grandmotherly smile. She used a fake gummy to replace her other tooth. "The library keeps me, young man. Books do not care about the hour. I had a particularly late guest."

The guard chuckled. "What do you have in your bag?"

"My belongings. Just a few old dusty books. A change of clothes. An old woman’s necessities."

"Open it."

Vera sighed. She set down her cane. She fumbled with the clasp of her worn leather bag. She made sure to make her fingers trembled and her movements painfully slow.

The guard watched as his patience thinned.

"Let me help you, ma’am."

He reached for the bag. Vera’s hand shot out. Her fingers wrapped around his wrist. Her grip was surprisingly strong. Too strong for an old woman. The guard blinked. "You’re quite strong, ma’am."

"No need," Vera said. Her voice was still sweet. "I have it."

She opened the bag. Inside were books. Old, dusty books as Vera had claimed. She also had a shawl and a small pouch of herbs. Nothing more.

The guard peered inside. He picked up one of the books and flipped through the pages. Dust rose to make him sneeze.

"What is all this?" he asked.

"Histories," Vera said. "Legends. Stories of the old world. The princes enjoy them. I was returning them to the archives."

The guard handed the book back. He stepped aside.

"Move along, ma’am."

Vera nodded. "You should not have harassed an old woman. Now, you have delayed me." She picked up her cane and shuffled past the gates.

Behind her, the guards resumed their conversation. They did not watch her go. They were too busy conversing about which she-wolf they would lay with tonight. freewebnøvel.com

******

The forest was dark, the trees were thick and the path was narrow. But Vera moved quickly now. Her back was straight. Her steps were sure and the cane no longer tapped. She had left it behind at the gate.

She walked for an hour in the dark forest without fear in her heart.

Finally, she reached the clearing.

Three figures stood in the shadows. Their scales caught the moonlight while their nocturnal amber eyes glowed. Lizard shifters! Lizard Alpha Kayden’s men.

Korvus stepped forward. His grey scales were almost white in the pale light as his tail twitched behind him.

"You have it?" he asked.

Vera reached into her sleeve. Her fingers closed around the small leather pouch. She pulled it out and held it up.

"Eight syringes," she said. "Full and Fresh. Taken just hours ago."

Korvus took the pouch and opened it. He held one of the syringes to the light. The dark red liquid glowed.

"The Alpha will be pleased," he said. "You have done well, Vera. How come you look old today. What’s with the camouflage?"

"The Alpha should be grateful," Vera replied. "I risked my life for this. The palace is crawling with wolves. One mistake and I would have been torn apart."

Korvus nodded. He gestured to one of the other lizards. The lizard stepped forward. He carried a heavy wooden chest.

Korvus opened the chest. Gold coins spilled over the edges, glittering in the moonlight.

"This is your payment," Korvus said. "As promised."

Vera counted the coins. Her eyes moved across the pile and her lips moved with a fake precision.

"It is all here," she said.

"Every coin."

Vera closed the chest and tucked it under her arm.

"There were supposed to be ten syringes," Korvus said. His voice was careful. "The Alpha was expecting ten."

Vera’s face did not change. Her eyes did not blink.

"There were complications," she said. "The girl woke up during the extraction. I had to stop early. I could not risk being discovered."

"How do I know you are speaking the truth?"

"Korvus, if you think it’s that easy? Then you would’ve extracted it yourself. You should thank me for risking my life."

Korvus studied her face, looking for a lie. He found none, so he zipped it up and nodd d his head.

"The Alpha will not be happy." he said.

"The Alpha can take what he is given," Vera replied. "Or he can find another spy. Another library. Another old woman willing to bleed for him."

Korvus nodded slowly. "We will inform him of the situation."

Vera turned to leave.

"One more thing," Korvus said.

She stopped, refusing to turn around.

"The girl. Samantha. Is she... has she been claimed? Had she been marked? If she is, it would be hard to kidnap her from the palace."

Vera smiled in the darkness. "Not yet. The princes are fighting over her. The king is watching. No one has marked her. No one has taken her."

"And the blood? Is it still pure?"

"Untouched. Uncorrupted. As fresh as the day she was born."

Korvus hissed softly. It was a sound of satisfaction.

"Good. The Alpha will want to know."

Vera walked into the trees. The shadows swallowed her and the gold coins clinked in the chest.

Behind her, the lizards gathered around Korvus. They stared at the syringes.

"What do we do now?" one of them asked.

Korvus tucked the pouch into his belt. "We return to the camp. We give the Alpha his samples. And we pray he does not ask too many questions about the missing two."

"And the old woman?"

Korvus looked toward the trees. Vera was gone.

"She is not our concern," he said. "She made her choice to work for us. Now she must live with it."

The lizards melted back into the forest.